Ars Moriendi plays mesmerizing Black Metal – the French band has ingested special qualities from all across the genre’s spectrum and portrayed it colourfully on the canvas of this ever-evolving, almost improvisational but methodical album. Think Agalloch meets Oranssi Pazuzu and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Ukrainian label Archaic Sound unearths this gleaming gem from the underground, this touching, evocative and extremely memorable album that refuses to get predictable. Multiple listens will reveal so many facets that you’ll run out of ink to pen them all down. It’s all too symbolic of the vagaries of life.